air-hunger
June 8 - July 8, 2006
Mary Magsamen & Stephan Hillerbrand

Mary Magsamen & Stephan Hillerbrand: sticky, air-hunger, 2004, inkjet print, 76.2 x 101.6 cm.

air-hunger comes from a medical condition, Kussmaul Breathing, which is the rapid, deep, and labored breathing of people who are in a diabetic coma. Kussmaul Breathing is also referred to as air hunger. The project, air-hunger explores issues of communication, sexuality and trust in relationships through the metaphor of what is traditionally seen as a children’s activity, chewing bubble gum. Each photograph was shot with a digital camera from the outside of a bubble being blown with bubble gum. The close-up images take on the look of something medical or biological. These organic images blur even further the distinction between the individual blowing the bubble and the bubble itself. The bubble blowers attempt to literally expand their world with their breath, but instead they make it a smaller, more cellular world.


Bio: The collaborative husband/wife team of Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand have been working together since meeting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. The full air-hunger series showed at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. Their work has been included in group exhibitions and screenings nationally and internationally. They recently had work in exhibitions at The Center for Photography at Woodstock and the Toledo Museum. They were awarded the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Residency in New York City at The Woolworth Building in 2003, a residency at the Experimental Television Center in 2004 and 2005 and an Ohio Arts Council Individual Creativity Award in 2005. www.maryandstephan.com.

EXHIBITION BROCHURE